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Thursday, April 14, 2016

We're so fortunate in Sonoma County to have an abundance of teaching gardens in our schools. Around the time that my oldest son, Rocco started at Valley Vista Elementary in Petaluma many moons ago (he's now almost 25!), an old patch of grassy area in between classrooms was transformed by an army of volunteers and staff into a wonderland of fruits and veggies. All three of my boys looked forward to garden class each week — fresh air, physical movement and tasty, natural treats. They're all three ultra keen on garden fresh foods in their diets as independent young men today. Dominic, my youngest, has taken this passion for the outdoors one step further — he's headed to U.C. Davis in the fall to study Plant Biology.

When I wrote about collaborative, seasonal dinner parties in my book Fog Valley Crush, many readers expressed a desire to experience this sort of dynamic dining themselves. Well, here's your chance — Cooking From the Spring Garden promises to be as good as it gets!

Wednesday, April 13, 2016

MarinScapes is one of my top picks for viewing extraordinary landscape art in the North Bay — and sales contribute towards vital mental health care and recovery for thousands of people in our communities north of the Golden Gate Bridge.

I attended the show for the first time, last year and was bowled over by the beautiful setting of historic Escalle Winery, tucked away in Larkspur. Click here to buy tickets.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Hotel Petaluma is undergoing a restoration that turns back the clock to its 1920s heyday as social center of its community and welcome respite for those traveling through the region.

A vintage bronze placard welcomes guests to the foyer of the Hotel Petaluma. Built in 1923, the hotel was built by the people for the people. Engraving on the placard says: “Made possible through the cooperative effort of eight hundred and fifty five men and women of Petaluma. Its friendly doors welcome the stranger and under its hospitable roof the friends of Petaluma find always only goodwill. It stands as evidence and proof of the faith which the people of Petaluma have in each other and in their city.”

Resident shareholders pooled together $250,000 of the total $350,000 costs for building the five story hotel with its Art Deco interior and spacious mezzanine. It was a showcase for visitors to the area and the hub of the community for social activities, events, club gatherings and civic meetings.

The Hotel Petaluma Company was established with Thomas Maclay as president and George P. McNear as vice president. Architect Brainerd Jones who designed most of Petaluma pitched a design, but it was San Francisco-based architect Frederich Whitton who scored the contract and designed this hotel.

The hotel has changed hands several times over the past 92 years. It has weathered two Depression eras, World War II and misguided remodels in parts and no upgrades at all in other areas. New owners Dipak Patel and Satish Patel of San Francisco, 40 years veterans of multiple Bay Area hotel ownership made a smart move in hiring historic hotel manager Juli Lederhaus as General Manager.

Juli has a passion for beautiful old hotels whose history and grandeur she has lots of experience in bringing back to life. She worked at the Fairmont in San Francisco in the past, although more recently, in a cooperative shareholder-built historic hotel in Salem, Massachusetts, constructed by the same company as Hotel Petaluma.

Her focus on restoring the hotel's elegant courtyard to its former glory is the most visible of restoration work from the outside. Here's what it used to look like:

And here's "restorian" extraordinaire, Petaluma's most passionate man about town when it comes to saving and restoring our community's architectural treasures, Christopher Stevick , showing me some of the work being done to ready for a late Spring completion of the courtyard.

Chris is currently reconstructing stone and plasterwork for the shield and cherubs that formerly graced the double doorway entrance to the lobby from the courtyard.

There's still a lot of work to do in the interior of the hotel. I imagine Chris will be kept busy for at least another two or three years. It's incredibly great to see this expert level of care being lavished on the old place.

There are more back staircases than you'd believe in the hotel, as well as the original pull-door elevator that is still in use. All of the limited guest rooms that are currently in use have been spruced up with quality linens and furnishings, though major remodeling of guest rooms, including plantation shutters and traffic noise reduction effort is next on the hotel's to-do-list.

The Goldman Ballroom and Brooklyn Boardroom pictured below are being booked up by wedding and event planners as "the quintessential Petaluma experience" — classic and elegant and right in the center of Petaluma's historic shopping and dining district.

After I'd had a good look around with Chris giving me an impromptu tour, I joined Petaluma's Salon du Vin group for a spot of wine tasting in the ballroom with Petaluma Gap member Fogline Vineyard's Evan Pontoriero.

After building a successful career in animation with Industrial Light and Magic, then Pixar Animation Studios, Evan told a rapt audience of his passion for winemaking and being grounded in the region he calls home.

He and business partner Brent Bessire have applied their combined skills in business and the arts for digging deep into premium winemaking.

Outstanding 2013 Sonoma Coast Chardonnay (evoking lemon zest, apple, and spice with a refreshing clean minerality and a touch of oak), Pinot Noir (Bing cherries and violets) and a (food friendly with blackberry and chocolate notes) 2013 Dry Creek Valley Zinfandel were featured in the tasting line-up. Click here for a full list of Fogline's wonderful wines.

Find Fogline Wines on the shelves at The Petaluma Market and Vine & Barrel in Petaluma, or sample for yourself at the winery's tasting room at 85 River Road in Fulton.

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Petaluma-based Literacyworks Center team has announced a matching donation drive through GlobalGiving today, March 16th, 2016. Its fundraising campaign for an excellent Adult Literacy program for military Veterans is up and running and will greatly benefit from the doubling up of our donations.

The purpose of The Literacyworks Center is to assist underserved, below-basic-skills students in solving the many educational, personal and logistical challenges they must face to stay in school and succeed in work. The Center will provide advising support and need-based Adult Literacy Awards to our Veterans that will help them break their persistence barriers such as transportation, childcare and tuition. This will help to ensure our Vets complete their educational and career goals.

Over 30 million US adults (1 in 5) don't have a high school diploma and 20% of adults with a high school diploma have only beginning literacy skills. The US ranked 21st in numeracy and 16th in literacy out of 24 countries in a recent assessment of adults' skills. Low literacy costs society $240 billion each year in lost productivity, welfare, crime, poverty and related social ills. Veterans are often left behind when accessing basic literacy programs critical to attaining better jobs.

The Literacyworks Center is designed to assist basic-skilled students in solving the many educational, personal and logistical challenges they must face to stay in school and succeed in work. The Center is strengthening and coordinating services for adults to access career and technical education. The Center helps students enroll and succeed in educational programs by providing: scholarships, mentoring, advising, life skill training, test taking, tutoring, financial literacy & career planning.

Long-Term Impact

In 3 years 200 Veterans will be succeeding in programs that will transform their lives. Veterans will have greater access to basic skills programs and thus 2-year technical school, apprenticeship or community college programs leading to living wage jobs. The Center will share its best practices with other national programs helping thousands of Veterans succeed in solving the many educational, personal and logistical challenges they must face to stay in school and find meaningful work.

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

I first visited The Barlow in Sebastopol when it was in its last throws as a dilapidated, former apple processing plant. I wrote an article for a local business publication on earlier plans for a (San Jose) Santana Row-style mixed use development that would have brought flashy apartment living to the historic heart of town.

After much debate with planners in this famously low-key west country community, developer Barney Aldridge went back to the drawing board and came up with what we see today when we visit the three-year-old Barlow — a bustling space for wine and beer makers, tasting rooms, a coffee roaster, bakery, restaurants, salons, art galleries and boutiques.

In the warmer months, The Barlow Street Fair welcomes locals and visitors to enjoy additional food vendors and live music.

I visited last summer for dinner at Zazu Kitchen and Farm, but hadn't been back in a while. Passing through the area on an early March morning, I stopped off for a quick coffee at Taylor Maid Farms HQ on McKinley Street. Parking is ample and free. As businesses opened up for the day, musicians strummed, joggers jogged, morning coffee-goers gathered at outdoor seating. With the whole point of the place being a showcase for Sonoma County sustainable food and beverage production, I strolled through a tunnel of enticing aromas — all things delicious in the process of being baked, roasted and racked. The Barlow is coming of age and most units have something interesting to take a look at.

Food shopping is always top of my list. I appreciate a mall or shopping area that incorporates a grocery store in its midst. We're spoiled for choice with great food shopping in Sonoma County. This was my first time in Sonoma County's worker-run Community Market. I found lots of products that I haven't come across in other stores in the region.

If you haven't visited The Barlow, it's a great starting-off point for walking on through downtown Sebastopol. If I'd had more time during this particular visit, I would have stayed for lunch and was tempted to play hooky and take in a matinee at the terrific Rialto Cinemas right next door to The Barlow. Talk about one-stop day out, from dawn-t0 dusk. I'm looking forward to re-visiting during street fair season.

Last year, I read in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat that Barney Aldridge plans to turn the building that is currently leased to organic Yerba Mate maker Guayaki into a "luxury modern" 90-room hotel. First he has to find suitable accommodations for fast-expanding Guayaki. Don't expect to book in for a stay for at least two years.

Here's what the folk at Outstanding In The Field have to say about McEvoy Ranch, just outside of Petaluma, location of one of a series of spectacular cross-country rustic feasts event organizers have planned for the 2016 season:

"McEvoy Ranch is a bit swanky. More glam than grit. If you’ve been thinking of wearing those platform heels to a farm dinner, this is the one. Olive oil comes from trees (there are thousands here) and also a giant frantoio (it’s been called the Maserati of olive crushers). We will enjoy a tour that ends at the table. Our guest chef Amaryll Schwertner has a restaurant at the Ferry Plaza Marketplace in San Francisco. Her cooking utilizes the larder — the small shops and farmers produce sold at the Ferry Plaza Market. McEvoy Ranch has a small store down the way from Boulettes Larder. It’s fun that Amaryll is taking the trip from larder to farm."

Tickets sell fast, despite the cost — so if this is your dream dinner, best get on it pronto. Click here to book when tickets are released on or soon after March 20th, 2016.

The Petaluma event is followed by three more al fresco dining destinations in the area that same week:

Porter Creek is a major tributary to the Russian River and this is one of the first certified organic vineyards, with some of the oldest Pinot Noir vines in the area. The winery is a father-son team. Son Alex makes the wine — only about 4,000 cases a year.

Outstanding In The Field returns to Front Porch Farm in Sonoma County wine country. The Russian River is bordered by mature trees here — cottonwoods, oaks, redwoods. Farm manager Johnny Wilson grows vegetables of all kinds and raises goats and chickens. Pigs and wine grapes (and wine) from another Front Porch property will also be part of the feast. Guest chef Rocky Maselli is an OITF veteran. His A16 restaurant is named for an Italian highway.

Andrew and Adam welcome Outstanding In The Field for a fourth visit. Guests will gather for the reception on an oak shaded hill. After hearing the overview from the overview, the brothers are set to lead a tour of the vines and gardens and tell guests more about their “forever wild” approach to viticulture and winemaking. The table will be set near an old hacienda between tall palms. Chef Ryan cooked alongside Thomas McNaughton of Flour + Water and Central Kitchen at a few previous OITF events. At SCRIBE he is out in front. He is also out front with an appearance on the 2016 James Beard Awards long list.

Springtime on Tomales Bay is beautiful — green rolling hills as far as the eye can see and gentle to strong breezes coming off the ocean. Depending on the weather, guests may dine atop a hill or in a wind-protected grove of trees. When it comes to setting the table on a big ranch, there are a lot of choices. Stemple Creek Ranch raises cattle organically and humanely and has garnered many awards for excellence. The details of which you will see and hear, and savor. Hot tip: Murray Circle, the guest chef’s restaurant, is part of Cavallo Point, a beautiful luxury resort a short distance from the towering Golden Gate Bridge with a spectacular view across the bay to San Francisco.

Tuesday, March 08, 2016

Treasure hunters and bargain seekers, mark your calendars for Saturday April 2nd, 2016 from 9 a.m to 1 p.m Beautiful Monkey Ranch, located near Union School, in rural West Petaluma is hosting a Barn Sale with 100% of the proceeds funding programs and materials for this treasured country school.

Generous neighbors and the community have donated all sorts of items that they have been storing for too long: old tools rusting in the shed; furniture; new and almost new toys and games; baby items; vintage records; best seller books and unique collectables.

Union Elementary School (est. 1895) is one of the few remaining a one-room schoolhouses in Sonoma/Marin Counties and is located less than 10 minutes west of Petaluma. Cynthia Haydon, principal and teacher, considers it a uniquely enriched educational program dedicated to the needs of the individual student. The school community hopes for money raised from the barn sale to help pay for art, music, science, and STEM programs as well as helping fund field trips and buy technology supplies (computers, iPads, chromebooks.)

Monday, March 07, 2016

Mendocino County's Casari Ranch is a dream come true for Ariana Strozzi Mazzucchi and Casey Mazzucchi. Ariana and Casey were each raised on coastal ranch lands. Together they have made a move from ranch land and Wool Mill in Valley Ford to form Casari Ranch, a 15 minutes north of the Sonoma County coastal border .

Ariana grew up at the foot of Mount Tamalpias in a little valley that was one of the last farmsteads of southern Marin County. She frolicked on the coastal beaches and the last of the dairies between Tennessee Valley, Muir Beach, Stinson Beach and Bolinas before the government took over the lands. Casey grew up on a 4th generation sheep ranch along the Estero De Americano in Valley Ford. They moved north to Mendocino County to diversify their agricultural operations.

When the couple first stepped onto what they describe as an amazing wonderland (now known as Casari), they found home. Casari is positioned between the Pacific Ocean and Mendocino County Forest, only 15 minutes north of Sea Ranch and a little over an hour's drive from Cloverdale.

Now it's time to share. Visitors are invited to enjoy a day walking through the world of fibers — a feast for the senses with sheep shearing daily at 11 a.m. — weaving/spinning/felting demonstrations, 'Farm to Home' artisan craftsmanship, hands on felting, fleece trading, music and delicious regional foods.

Satisfy your well being while steeped in the wonders of wool and its natural calming and inspiring effects, Saturday & Sunday May 21st & 22nd, 2016 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Located in Point Arena, Casari Ranch is a 532 acre Ag Preserve just 1 mile North of downtown Point Arena. "We look forward to enjoying a weekend of 'Revolutionizing' your idea of wool!" says Ariana.

"Here at the ranch we believe in environmentally friendly living, ranching and farming practices," says Ariana. "We enjoy sharing our beautiful, natural surroundings with guests in a variety of venues including educational programs, retreats, and vacation stays. In addition to offering unique and custom experiences, our ranch produces wool products which we grow, mill and make right here on the ranch. We also feature 100% grass fed lamb, and seasonal ‘farm to table’ goods, which can be found for purchase at our Casari storefront in downtown Point Arena (just 1 mile from the ranch). As of 2016 we are developing a plan to grow grains in a balanced way on portions of the ranch".

Why not make the most of a visit to the area by staying on for a Night Tour of the historic Point Arena Lighthouse, Saturday, May 21st?

Experience a spectacular view from atop the Lighthouse. Enjoy a panoramic view of the sea. Join Lighthouse Keepers as they take you on your journey into the past and discover the unique history of this historic landmark; the tallest lighthouse on the West Coast. Click here for more info.

Thursday, March 03, 2016

Here's the initial lineup for the 9th Annual Petaluma Music Festival, August 6th, 2016 at the Sonoma-Marin Fair Grounds :

Jackie Greene

Steve Kimock & Friends

David Nelson Band

The Mother Hips

Moonalice

David Luning

The Sam Chase

Joy & Madness

The Highway Poets

MoeTar

More bands to be announced!

Tickets are on sale now!

Early bird general admission tickets — $35

Early bird VIP tickets — $85

Prices go up after early bird tickets sell out.

The VIP ticket scores you a reserved seat in the shade under our big tent with complimentary hors d'oeuvres, wine tasting, and beer tasting!

As always, the Petaluma Music Festival is a family friendly event. Kids 12 under get in for free with a special Kids Area for when the young ones need a break from the music. Teens 13-18 pay $20 at the gate.

Tuesday, March 01, 2016

The Petaluma Arts Center announces Metalworks: Cast, Forged and Welded, on view from March 19 through May 1, 2016.

“The Bay Area, and in particular Petaluma, enjoys an enduring history and ongoing involvement in the creation of metal sculpture as an art form,” said curator Satri Pencak. “Among the nationally and internationally acclaimed artists known for their metalwork—who live near or have connections to Petaluma—are Mark di Suvero, David Best, and the late Robert Ellison.

While there are many talented artists in the area, for this exhibition I chose a selection of accomplished artists whose work reflects a variety of approaches and techniques with which metal can be worked.”

Featuring more than 35 works, the exhibition explores contemporary trends in metal sculpture. Showcasing the work of ten Bay Area artists, the exhibition demonstrates the ways that the unique properties of metal are used to create expressive and design-focused works of art.

Through methods used in metalwork, including casting, forging, and welding, the exhibition focuses on material, process, concept, and design, as well as considers the properties of different types of metals and finishes. From abstract to figurative, and from complex to minimalist in form, the work reflects back to ancient processes while looking forward to current technological advances.

The exhibition is enriched with informative displays of process videos, materials, and tools-of-the-trade.

Petaluma Arts Center

Housed in the historic Railroad Station freight building, next to the Petaluma Visitors Center, Petaluma Arts Center hosts art exhibitions, performances, art classes, literary and film lectures, and events. The Arts Center grew out of the grassroots Petaluma Arts Council, founded in 1998 with a goal of acknowledging and celebrating local artists and their contributions. Located next to the upcoming SMART commuter train station in developing Midtown Petaluma, the arts center is experiencing a renaissance along with the growth of the arts in Sonoma County.

Hours

Thursday through Monday (closed Tuesday/Wednesday/Holidays) 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. Open the fourth Monday of the month until 8 p.m.

Admission

Run of Exhibition tickets are $5 general; $4 seniors, students, teachers, military; $3 groups; free to PAC members. Fourth Mondays are free days and open until 8:00 p.m.

Matt Devine Studio Tour, Thursday March 31, 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. $15 general, $10 PAC members. Meet at the Arts Center for hors d’oeuvres and refreshments, then walk or drive to the studio for a guided tour. Tickets at the door.

Jan Nunn, Sonoma State University Art Department tour, Sunday April 24, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. Free; must register in advance. To celebrate International Sculpture Day, take a tour of the metal sculpture facilities in the Art Department at SSU. Observe sculpture students working on their projects with a variety of equipment.